Jon Tester

Montana has been a pretty red state. In 2016, Trump clobbered Hillary there 56.5% to 35.9%. Hillary won only 6 of the state’s 56 counties. Democrats had plenty to worry about for their senator, Jon Tester. When he was first elected in 2006, he barely beat Republican incumbent, Conrad Burns— 199,845 (49.2%) to 196,283 (48.3%). With less than 50% of the vote, senators know they’re going to have a tough reelection fight. And sure enough in 2012, Tester was forced into a battle with Denny Rehberg, a sitting congressman. The result was another squeaker— 236,123 (48.6%) to 218,051 (44.9%).

How much damage is Trump doing to GOP candidates in red states like Montana?Sunday, I noted that when you examine flippable districts, the Democrats' ceiling for a net gain is 88 seats.

The other day, some babbling idiot on twitter, was whining about how dare anyone-- basically me, I assume-- think someone further left than Jon Tester could ever get elected in Montana. He wasn't worth responding to but why don't we take a glance back into Montana's ancient history to a time when someone considerably to the left of Jon Tester did get elected. And that person was...

One strategy for conservative Democratic senators in Trump states to win reelection is to show voters back home how bipartisan they are. I wonder if touting the Wall-street friendly dismantling of Dodd-Frank is a good idea for Democrats. Republicans aren't going to vote for them; they have their own candidates.

Señor Trumpanzee has never been one for nuance, so when Putin's moron disguised as a president tweeted to his equality stupid supporters that Jon Tester should resign... well what more could anyone expect. He's un-nuanced and he's a more... but he has an instinct for savagery...

Ever since Rahm Emanuel was handed the reins of the DCCC-- the beginning of Pelosi's downfall as a force for good-- this blog has spent a good deal of time exploring what's wrong with that organization. In the last few weeks the eruptions have been so frequent and vitriolic that DCCC-connected congressmen and staffers have been asking me to cool it and one even called a friend of mine and asked him what they had to do to stop.

I have to give credit to Schumer for firing the spectacularly failed DSCC chairman, his 2016 sock-puppet Jon Tester. I can't remember the DSCC ever doing worse in terms of money spent compared to contests lost. This should have been a cycle the Democrats won back the Senate and took at least 6 seats. Instead they won a measly two, New Hampshire and Illinois.

Because of the seats that are up in 2016, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the Democrats would take back the Senate regardless of the top of the ticket. Trump just makes GOP defense more difficult. Unfortunately, because of the seats that are up in 2018, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the Republicans will take back the Senate.

As we mentioned yesterday, the head of the DSCC, Jon Tester, was one of 3 Democrats-- the other two being NRA shills Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin-- to have crossed the aisle and voted with the Republicans to defeat an amendment by Chris Murphy that aimed to expand background checks on gun sales to include sales at gun shows and on the Internet.

Jon Tester, the disappointing senator from Montana and Schumer's puppet chairman of the DSCC, had a busy Monday. He voted with the Republicans-- as he often does-- against the bill to pass meaningful background checks for gun purchases. That's the HEAD of the DSCC. AND, he authorized a million dollar spend against Alan Grayson in the Florida Senate primary-- a spend meant to help elect Wall Street whore Patrick Murphy.